Nigella Lawson Denies Drug Addiction, Says Charles Saatchi Would Point Out Stains Around the House For Her to Clean

A day after admitting in court that she has taken cocaine a number of times, U.K. celebrity chef Nigella Lawson is back on the stand today to answer additional questions about her tempestuous relationship with ex-husband Charles Saatchi (who was seen with his hand on Lawson’s throat, in a choking position, in the infamous paparazzi shot this summer). Lawson landed the cover of pretty much every British tabloid this morning after her admission, with the DailyMail, probably unsurprisingly, devoting five pages to the story. Much was made of her demeanor and gait en route to the courtroom. “Marie Antoinette couldn’t have mustered more drama on her way to the scaffold,” quipped one columnist.

Today, Lawson took umbrage with being referred to as the “lady of the house,” claiming that it was both her and Saachi’s job to oversee affairs at home. She claimed Saachi “would go round and point out marks he wanted removed,” as he was “a person with a tremendous eye for detail.” This came after Lawson had claimed she did “a fair amount” of food shopping of her own, which led to the defense attorney explaining of her line of questioning, “This is no criticism of you as a domestic goddess.”

Yesterday, Lawson claimed to have taken cocaine only twice in her life, refuting claims she was a habitual user as “completely ridiculous.” Though Saatchi had reportedly referred to Nigella as “Higella” in e-mails and described her as a rampant drug user, he said in court on Friday he had in fact never seen her take drugs and did not have any hard evidence of such behavior. Though the trial is technically of two former personal assistants who are accused of fraud, the proceedings have centered on the couple’s relationship: the ex-employees are accused of making charges on Saatchi’s credit card (to the tune of $1 million) in exchange for their silence about Nigella’s purported drug problem.